This is artwork by Claire Moore, a member of the Marquette Artist Collective, a 2019 creative partner in the 100DayProject. This year’s project kicks off on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy of Ann Russ)

MARQUETTE — Can you keep up a creative endeavor for 100 consecutive days? Now is your time to find out.

The 2020 100DayProject will launch on Wednesday and, as its name says, will end on April 30. This marks the seventh year of the community-wide arts initiative.

The theme this year is “Secret Places,” which is an opportunity to explore inner and/or outer landscapes and environments.

Helping to lead the project again is Marquette-based ceramicist Ann Russ.

“The theme is always optional,” Russ said. “It’s for people who are looking for a bit of a nudge with their projects.”

It can be interpreted symbolically, metaphorically or literally.

“It’s up to the person,” Russ said.

Five arts organizations are partnering with the 100DayProject this year: the Marquette Arts and Culture Center, the Bonifas Arts Center in Escanaba, the Gaylord Council for the Arts, Studio 23/The Arts Center in downstate Bay City and the Grand Marais Art Colony in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

The creative partner this year is the Lake Superior Art Association, Russ said.

Spearheading the project with Russ is Cathy Benda, a Marquette-based artist.

Russ said talks are ongoing with several 100DayProject guides who are willing to chronicle their journeys and share those journeys on the 100DayProject Facebook page and in its newsletter.

“Those are really inspirational for people because the guides post weekly, so they can read about the ups and down of the process because 100 days is a long time,” Russ said, “and there are times when you hit roadblocks, and then other times where it just flows really smoothly.”

With 100 days being a lengthy bit of time, Russ said it’s common for people to miss a day or two, and that’s OK.

“We say to people, ‘There’s no 100Day Project police — We’re going to come to your door and arrest you if you miss a day or two or three,'” Russ said. “The idea is just to get back on the horse and ride again if you miss a few days.”

It’s also OK to make mistakes, with the project participants inspired by author Neil Gaiman, particularly this quote: “I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.”

Russ agrees with that philosophy.

“That’s how we grow and that’s how we learn,” she said.

in fact, that’s what the 100DayProject is all about.

“They’re ‘creativity excavations,'” Russ said, “and they give us permission to play and explore and experiment and make those big, beautiful mistakes, and through them we learn and stretch ourselves in new ways.:

That’s important, she said.

“Anything we practice, we get better at, right?” Russ said. “So, we believe that creativity is a skill that can be developed through practice.”

That creativity doesn’t need to be in the form of a traditional painting.

Russ said people have started to register their projects already, and they include some interesting things, taking the opportunity to practice with a new medium.

For example, a fiber artist wants to better learn how to use her iPhone to take black-and-white photographs, which the artist hopes she can adapt and translate into new designs for her fiber work, Russ said.

Russ mentioned other examples: someone wanting to simply draw for 100 days and another desiring to learn mosaic. Another person hasn’t touched paints in two years and wants to “reboot” her painting.

“People just want to get better at something,” Russ said.

Tiina Harris, community services manager for arts and culture for the city of Marquette, is based at the MACC, which she said has supported the 100DayProject from the start.

Harris said MACC has promoted the project, offered space for meet-ups and been a place for work in the past to be exhibited. People also come in to ask questions about the project.

Harris understands what a new endeavor can bring.

However, people can take part in their 100Day activities, she said, by starting small and working on their projects for even just a few minutes, cultivating a habit with a creative endeavor with community support.

And that habit doesn’t have to be a visual art; Harris said a person simply can pick up a ukelele.

“There’s one person who said that they want to learn to drum,” Russ said, “and so their project description is they want to learn a new drumming rhythm every week during the hundred days.”

Still, some effort has to be put into the projects.

“It’s a great personal challenge,” Harris said.

Russ said people can start a 100DayProject activity whenever they want, but many people enjoy being part of a community.

“I think what’s powerful about the 100DayProject idea is that it provides people with a structure and a routine to practice, and they don’t have to go through it alone,” Russ said.

For more information, visit the100dayproject.com.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250.